Our Vision at Pacific Beach Presbyterian Church is: People Bringing People to Christ. We'll be posting the text versions of the sermon from our morning worship service here weekly! For more information on our church or service times, visit our website at www.pbpres.org.

Friday, November 7, 2014

All That the Lord Has Spoken (Exodus 19:1-9; Ruth 1:15-22) by Rev. Dr. Alan W. Deuel

There is a long time
rivalry in college basketball between the University
of Louisville and the University of Kentucky. A story is told that at one of the games
between the two schools, an elderly woman was sitting alone in the Rupp Arena,
in LexingtonKY, with an empty seat next to her. A stranger approached her and said,
"Ma'am, I have rarely seen an empty seat in Rupp Arena, let alone at a
game between these two teams. Whose seat
is this?" The woman responded that
she and her late husband had been season-ticket holders for 28 years, were loyal
supporters of the Kentucky Wildcats, and the seat had belonged to him. "Well, couldn't you find a friend or
relative to come to the game with you?" the man asked. "Not tonight" she replied.
"They're all at my husband's funeral.”

Honoring promises and commitments, maintaining loyalties, is
fundamental to what it means to being a human being, as well as to the normal
functioning of a society. Broadly
speaking, we are members of a social contract between government or the state
and the individual. It is a tenuous
agreement framed in the rule of law.
This social contract sets forth the rights and freedoms of the one and
the many. We individuals agree to
surrender certain freedoms and to submit to the authority of government in
exchange for securing economic, political and social order, preserving basic
freedoms and rights, and guaranteeing protection from danger, both from within
and from abroad. This social contract is
fundamental to the stability and welfare of our nation.

I think of a classic contract, our United States
Constitution and Bill of Rights – “We the
people of the US in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice,
insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the
general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our
posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of
America.”

The social contract or covenant between government and
people, is great in theory, until we get down to debating specifics about how
much power the government has, what is legitimate power and what is
over-reaching power, and what individual freedoms and rights should be
protected. Our democratic system works
pretty well when people voluntarily, by their moral will, are committed to and
obey the laws of the land.

But public trust in our government and in politicians is
extremely low today as we know. And if a
majority of people were to violate the social contract or break the covenant,
our way of life, as we know it, would vanish.
We could not hire enough cops to protect us. I also think of the current ebola scare. Here is an illustration of the social
contract debate between the personal freedom and rights of returning health
care workers vs the health and safety of the public.

Which leads us to our biblical lessons that describe two
different covenants. In our story from the book of Exodus, Moses is
leading the Israelites in their flight from slavery in Egypt, and after three months in the wilderness,
they reach Mt.Sinai,
in the south-central Sinai peninsula. And there God makes a covenant with the people
of Israel. God instructs Moses: “Tell the people you have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I
bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. Now if they obey my voice and keep my
covenant, they shall be my treasured possession of all the peoples of the whole
earth, a holy nation. And in response
the people reply – “Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.” On that day, on a mountain in the wilderness,
a sacred covenant between God and the people of Israel was established.

In the book of Ruth, we hear a narrative of both personal
tragedy and hope in God. We meet a young
Moabite woman named Ruth and her Jewish mother-in-law Naomi. Naomi and her husband, Elimelech depart from Bethlehem, in Judah,
because of a famine in the land and make the sojourn to the country of Moab, known today as part of modern Jordan,
to begin a new life.

Sadly, tragedy strikes the family. Naomi’s husband, Elimelech dies, and then
some years later, her two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, who had married Moabite
women, also die. That left Naomi and her
two Moabite daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah.
Naomi tries to persuade her daughters-in-law to return to Moab and Orpah
decides to return home. But Ruth is
determined to stay with her mother-in-law.
She loved her and was committed to her.
Ruth pledges her loyalty in the famous words from this story: “Where you go I will go and where you stay I
will stay. Your people will be my people
and your God my God. Where you die I
will die, and there I will be buried. May
the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates
you and me.” And God's purpose for
the future of the people of Israel
unfolds as the story of Ruth continues.

Commitments and promises!
People make commitments to the constitution and to this nation when they
join the military. We make commitments
to our family, to our spouse, to our children and grandchildren, to
friendships, to our jobs, to the community in which we live, to creation, to
care for the environment, in which God has placed us. We make a commitment as citizens on election
day coming up on Tuesday November 4.

Think of someone who made a promise to you and kept it? How did that impact you? Think of someone who broke a promise to
you? How did that affect you? Think of a promise you have kept. Do you recall a promise you have broken?

Scripture is clear that making and honoring our commitments
builds character, the character God desires for each one of us. And despite our instant gratification
culture, character takes time to build.
And because of the choices we make, it takes more time for some than for
others. Honoring commitments builds
endurance and discipline and trust and patience and faithfulness. Honoring commitments speaks volumes about our
values and about our faith.

Yes, you have broken commitments and promises in your
life. And so have I. That's when we fall to our knees, confess to
God and to the person our contrition, ask for forgiveness and pray for God's
help to make it right. Now that's
character. And we turn to God because
God is merciful and His mercy can change our lives.

According to the Bible, honoring promises is the secret to a
joyful, fulfilling, and meaningful life.
It is not necessarily the easiest path, but it is the right path. It is the difference between depth and
shallowness in a person. It is a key
spiritual value. Yes, some people
today are afraid of making promises. Is
our society becoming commitment adverse.
I sometimes wonder.

Like Octavio Guillen and Adriana Martinez who came to America from Mexico. Octavio popped the question and Adriana said
yes. That was in 1902 when they were both 15-years-old. But one of them
couldn't quite decide, so they kept putting off the wedding day. They finally
got married in 1969 when they were both 82.
It took Octavio and Adriana 67 years to decide to get married. Now that is a long engagement.

God wants His people, God wants you and me, to be people who
make and honor commitments and promises.
Romans 6:13 says: “Give yourselves
completely to God, every part of you.
You want to be tools in the hands of God to be used for His good
purposes.”

God has made an everlasting covenant with us, with you and
to me. John 3:16 says: “God so
loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall
not perish, but have eternal life. God
did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the
world might be saved through him.”

And as believers, we, in response, make a promise to
Christ. For instance, when you join the
church, you make a promise to Jesus Christ and to your spiritual brothers and
sisters in the congregation. You answer
four questions – Is Jesus Christ your
Lord and Savior? Do you trust in Him?

Do you intend to be
his disciple, to obey his word and show his love? Will you be a faithful member
of this church, worshipping regularly, giving of your time, talents and money
in Christ’s ministry, seeking the fellowship of the church wherever you may be? It is a covenant between you, God and the
people of God to witness to Christ in your daily life.

Why be committed to God? Because God knows what’s best for
our lives, because God has shaped us for
His purpose, because commitment expresses our gratitude to God for our
salvation, because our character is forged and formed by the promises and
commitments we keep, and because God promises to reward commitment. Yes, God will bring us blessings and
benefits, when we put God first and seek his will in our lives.

Marie Florian, a Stephen Minister from Eaton Rapids, MI
makes this promise to those to whom she ministers. It is
truly a beautiful covenant. “I’ll do my best to listen, should you want
to bare your soul, while you sort through facts and feelings; Yes, I’ll gladly
play this role. I’ll be a friend to
count on and I’ll try to understand. You
are a sacred trust to me, while you’re placed within my hand. And should you need reminding, just to set
your heart at ease, your words are very safe with me; you can say whatev’er you
please. Don’t feel you are a burden, for
I want to share your load, and together in the valley we’ll seek for a better
road. I give my solemn promise that I’ll
hold you up in prayer; I’ll lift you to the throne of God, my friend, I truly
care.”

Today is our Day of Commitment to God, our congregation and
the community for 2015. Jesus asks us
to commit not only a portion of our money, but beyond that, our hearts and
minds, our bodies and souls, our abilities and talents and our prayers and
faith. May we, like the Israelites on
Mr. Sinai, declare these words - “Everything
that the Lord has spoken we shall do.”
Amen!

About our Church

We here at Pacific Beach Presbyterian Church are a family of Christians dedicated to sharing the word of God with our neighbors. Our vision is: People Bringing People to Christ. We have a single Sunday morning worship service at 10:00am, and our 7:00pm Roots Young Adult Service.